Highland planning blog

We lucked out. October 25th was a windy, but warm autumn day. And our first ever "South Clinton Goes Batty" event was a big success.

OVERVIEW OF EVENTS

The event was organized by the South Clinton Avenue Merchants Association. It included a spook house for kids, a hayride, crafts, four movies at the Cinema Theatre, promotions at many of the stores on South Clinton, and free donuts and cider at Crossroads Coffee. Highland Planning's role was to manage the event logistics. We hired a graphic designer to develop a logo and marketing materials, organized the promotions and activities, raised sponsorships, distributed advertising materials, managed the Facebook page, created the map of activities, and, of course, gathered all the scary decorations we could find.

The spook house was very scary. But not too scary.

My good pal Comet (on the left) from the Rochester Police Department Mounted Patrol came to hang out.

The Rochester Fire Department brought their safety trailer. That is my son, on the ladder, finally emerging from the second floor after 45 minutes.

The hayride was a big hit.

Everyone had a great time with the arts and crafts activities at MGOS Dance: painted pumpkins, pumpkin fist prints, thumb print spiders, and handprint puppet monsters.

OUTCOMES

Many of the South Clinton Avenue stores had promotions. Stuart's Spices said they saw more foot traffic, which was definitely the point of the event.

The best part for me was that there were so many people out on the street.

Most of us ended up at the Cinema Theatre for the kids’ double feature. A few of us enjoyed dinner at the South Wedge Diner. There were also evening activities with music and drink specials at the Angry Goat and the Firehouse Saloon. The Cinema had an evening double feature for adults as well.

All in all, it was a great event. I am grateful to my colleagues Jen Topa and Anna Liisa Keller for their hard work on the event planning.

NEXT YEAR WILL BE BATTIER

It was our first year, and we organized all the details in six short weeks. We had representation from the South Wedge, Highland Park, Swillburg, the Neighborhood Service Center, the Rochester Police Department and the Rochester Fire Department. Our sponsors are listed in the posted below. The fact that it was successful shows that our district is a rich community of people who are excited to celebrate city living. And Halloween.

Last Wednesday, one of the Monroe Avenue merchants I work with -- Jim DeLuca from Abundance Coop -- and I attended a breakfast and presentation called “Destination Main Street.” The event was sponsored by the Landmark Society of Western New York and featured a speaker named John Schallert. Schallert is an internationally-recognized business expert specializing in teaching businesses and communities how to turn themselves into Consumer Destinations. Schallert speaks to thousands annually on his proprietary 14-step “Destination Business” process, which he developed over the course of nearly 30 years of working with independent business owners.THE ART OF DIFFERENTIATION

Schallert's presentation identified ways to make a business become a destination, so that traditional small establishments can pull consumers from 5 miles, 50 miles, or even 100 miles away. He gave examples of how businesses differentiate themselves from their competition. For example, by having an attraction, such as the world’s largest mattress on your show room floor. Or by serving food cafeteria style, which makes people feel like they are stepping back in time. Or by stocking a product that no one else sells.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ROCHESTER

As the Street Manager for the southeast quadrant, Highland Planning works in cooperation with the City of Rochester, the Monroe Avenue Merchants Association (MAMA), and the South Clinton Avenue Merchants Association (SCMA) to strengthen Monroe Avenue and South Clinton Avenue. Our work is focused on improving the appearance of each avenue, facilitating communication and promotion for each district, and facilitating investment in properties and individual businesses. The current scope of work for the program can be categorized into three areas: communication, events and promotion, and investment.

I was reflecting on Monroe Avenue throughout the presentation. That district has quite a few destination businesses. At the end of the event, Jim and I huddled up to discuss the implications for our collaborative work. We talked about developing a merchant tour of our own destination businesses to see if we can learn from one another about how to attract customers. We both agreed we’d need to include:

The Bug Jar. It's a small, but authentic performance space for independent music. Also, the furniture installed on the ceiling upside down has always been a draw for me.

Voula's Greek Sweets. Cozy atmosphere and delicious food. One waiter likes to bring each person at the table a spirit animal figurine at the end of the meal. Love that.

Osteria Rocco. The best Italian food that was ever made. If you ask, one of the waiters will sing a few minutes of captivating opera.

Whether you like it or not, Starbucks is a destination business for Monroe Avenue. It's true.

Archimage. A Monroe Avenue institution for independent retail. When my six year old discovered their geode collection recently, he declared that we no longer need Target for birthday party gifts. Hear, hear, young man. Hear, hear.

So that's a great list. Who did I miss? Park Ave Pets. Boldo's Armory. Yellow Haus Bicycles. I am sure there are a few more. We have more than 135 businesses and they create a pretty eclectic mix of retail, service and restaurants.

WHAT'S MISSING?

I couldn’t help think about the best opportunity for a destination on Monroe Avenue. Unfortunately, it’s been vacant for several years. The Monroe Theater.

The property is in good hands. It’s owned by Monroe Goodman Associates LLC, which is held by the Rainaldi family. We are all a little impatient for them to fully develop it, as well as they have the Culver Road Armory and other properties. And they know we are all looking forward to the day that they find a long-term tenant. I can clearly imagine it, renovated, occupied with an interesting business, filled with activity, and drawing people from throughout the region.

We are excited to announce that our client, Headwater Foods, is the recipient of a $75,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) grant.

This spring, we collaborated with our partners at the Wayne County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to request funding for a comprehensive feasibility study related to the relocation of Headwater Foods’ existing food hub in Ontario, NY. If you aren't familiar with the term, a food hub is a business that actively manage the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products from local producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand. The RBEG program funds a broad array of activities to facilitate the development of small and emerging rural businesses.

The first thing we did when we learned that our request was funded was celebrate with a snack.

Okay, snack time is over. Now the real fun starts.WHO IS HEADWATER FOODS?Headwater Foods, Inc. is a for-profit, diverse and integrated, soil-to-table, community food enterprise that creates a value-filled, year-round supply chain of local, top quality, sustainable foods for the Genesee Finger Lakes area of New York and the Northeast region of the United States. In the last five years, Headwater Foods has used both wholesale and direct sales strategies to grow 100% each year and establish itself as a leading supplier of local, sustainable foods and an organization working to positively transform this region’s food system.

The company seeks to promote local, sustainable agriculture; a regional food system; accessible and fair GOOD FOOD options for all people; and an enhancement and celebration of Western New York’s food history and culture.

Awesome.

And if you think the food looks good, check out the people who work for Headwater Foods. They are even better. Visionary thinkers. Savvy entrepreneurs. All around good people.

WE GO WAY BACK

In 2012, Highland Planning helped Headwater Foods with a site relocation process. The company moved from a 1,000 square foot barn in Webster, NY to a 9,000 square foot warehouse in Ontario, NY in May 2013. Last year, they expanded operations to include a wholesale food business line. Since that time, Headwater Foods has achieved a scale of operations that establishes a baseline economic viability for both its own organization and its network of farms, many of which are located in Wayne County. This year, Headwater Foods’ annual sales will surpass $1.5 million, and the company is positioned to expand, broaden its reach, diversify its business activities, product lines, and customer base; and work to establish a model food hub that has a significant, positive impact on the local food economy.

WHAT NOW?

Over the next few months, we will be managing the RBEG grant adminstration. We've assembled a brilliant team of architects, economists, farmers, transportation suppliers, engineers, and customers to study, analyze and explore the opportunity for a new hub, one that uses on-site alternative energy resources and adds processing capacity to Headwater Foods’ operation.

We are confident that this study will help Headwater make smart choices -- regarding investments in facilities and equipment, strategic partnerships with new farmers and institutional partners, and day-to-day operations.

I am honored to be a part of this exciting phase of organizational development for Headwater Foods. We will be working on this study every day for the next few months. Stay tuned for updates and findings as we progress.